Today’s ‘On This Day’ features Coventry City’s programme from the 1973/74 season. Read our review of the programme below and see the other Division One issues from 1973/74 here.
Coventry’s ‘Sky Blue’ issue was one of seven in the 1973/74 season to have 24 pages, offering 18 pages of content. The programme’s design gave it the feel of a newspaper-style issue (without going so far as to turn the programme into a newspaper as Derby County had). The issue utilised large bold headlines on many pages and a mix of column layouts.
The front cover of the programme featured 19-year-old Sky Blues striker Alan Green heading home the opening goal in City’s recent game against Everton. Inside, Coventry manager Joe Mercer sung the praises of matchday opponents West Ham United, praising boss Ron Greenwood for the quality of their play, and pointing out their “keen, friendly, and knowledgeable supporters”. There was also an interview with Coventry’s First Team Coach Tommy Casey, who (perhaps predictably) stressed the importance of coaching in aiding a player’s development.
The programme featured match reports from recent games, noting Coventry’s exit from the Texaco Cup at the hands of Motherwell. The centre-pages meanwhile included pictures from the club’s recent 5-1 League Cup victory over Fourth Division Darlington. There were several pages of first-team news and stats, including detailed appearance records, together with the club’s fixtures and results. There was also detailed coverage of the fortunes of Coventry’s reserve and youth teams, with match reports, league tables, and appearance records.
More unusually, the programme included a column called ‘In the Garden’, which provided a range of gardening tips for green-fingered Coventry fans! The connection between the city of Coventry and car production was also clear to see from the advertising content included within the issue, with four separate advertisements related to the industry.
Coverage of West Ham was provided over three pages, with an in-depth lead article commenting on the Hammers’ struggles so far that season, when they had been heavily fancied to compete for honours. The section provided ‘Pen Pictures’ of the West Ham squad, which included Bobby Moore (then approaching the end of his time with the club), Billy Bonds, Frank Lampard Sr, and Trevor Brooking. Bonds was the subject of ‘Star Portrait’ – a full-page picture that included a box for budding autograph hunters to capture his signature. There was also a page looking back to the previous season’s matchups between Coventry and West Ham, with the sides enjoying one win apiece.
Perhaps unsurprisingly given the newspaper-style approach to the design of this programme, the Coventry issue favoured club news and reports over other types of content. On its own terms ‘Sky Blue’ no doubt achieved its aim, but the inclusion of a few longer-form articles would have been needed for the issue to stand comparison with the better programmes in the league.